"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."

Think of us as mods without actual power. We're here to judge you lot and help decide what to do with you.Or so was the purpose of the group, we're still waiting on actual permission to be able to do anything. Among other things.

"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."

"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."

At the moment, it doesn't really matter, as the whole Gold member thing is still being reworked (as far as I know) to actually serve a purpose for the forum.

It used to be just a joke, created by BeeAre once he obtained his Admin powers, as a little club of "the elite" just for fun and because he had the power to.

Since then, ideas have been thrown around that Gold members would serve primarily as role models of the forum, and would gather together to try to help make the forums a better place--basically like mods without the power. We've been trying to lean into this direction, in any case, although many people who have been made Gold during the time it was just a joke haven't really been doing this and sorta just see it as a meaningless title.

Hiroko wrote:Since then, ideas have been thrown around that Gold members would serve primarily as role models of the forum, and would gather together to try to help make the forums a better place--basically like mods without the power. We've been trying to lean into this direction, in any case, although many people who have been made Gold during the time it was just a joke haven't really been doing this and sorta just see it as a meaningless title.

This is basically the intent behind the Golds right now.

Basically, the Gold Members are like the neighbourhood watch: pillars of the community, respected, ever present, and as such they should be like mentors to the newbies who come in, and they should attempt to defuse situations, to take problematic newbies under their wing and explain how they can be better members of the community.

"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."

Hiroko wrote:We've been trying to lean into this direction, in any case, although many people who have been made Gold during the time it was just a joke haven't really been doing this and sorta just see it as a meaningless title.